TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan wants the return of islands captured by Russia in World War Two before it signs a peace treaty, a Japanese government spokesman said on Wednesday, after Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Japan agree to an unconditional peace treaty.

Putin made the suggestion to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a question and answer session at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

The disputed Pacific islands are known as the Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.

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"I don't want to comment on what President Putin said," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a regular briefing in Tokyo.

"However, our position that the Northern Territories issue is resolved before any peace treaty remains unchanged."